Los Angeles, willettspace.com
Early this year, we discovered through Instagram and the Los Angeles grapevine that a former creative director and spatial designer for Nike and The North Face was noodling on his own furniture, after designing a bunch of it for the very stylish house he’d moved into with his wife, the chef and cookbook author Molly Baz. The work — inspired by the playful designs coming out of Europe in the ’60s and ’70s — was so nice we immediately invited Willett into our Collection, and are eagerly awaiting the launch of his first proper line in the coming months.

What is American design to you, and what excites you about it?

To me, American design is made up of the people participating in the industry. People’s varying backgrounds, where they live, and what they surround themselves with all make up the vast landscape of American design.

I think what’s especially exciting about American design is that it’s forever evolving and changing. It’s not stuck in or beholden to a historical past that influences its aesthetic. It can and will evolve and change depending on what the American people are experiencing in their own lives and are gravitating towards culturally at any given moment.

What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year?

My plans are to launch a furniture company! I’m working hard on finding new ways to bring prices down so that my pieces are more accessible to a wider audience. My shorter-term plan is to show my pieces in public settings a bit more (not just in private settings) so that more people can experience my design principles in real life.

What inspires or informs your work in general?

My work is inspired by warmth, sculpture, and human connection. My goal is to create pieces that fill spaces and to simultaneously create the very spaces they occupy. I want people to be able to connect through their proximity to one another within these spaces, and in doing so, experience the impact of intentional design.